Early education takes on new prominence in races for governor

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EARLY EDUCATION TAKES ON NEW PROMINENCE IN RACES FOR GOVERNOR: Promises to expand preschool programs and boost child care options are playing a big role in several gubernatorial races, elevating the issue to what some advocates say is its most prominent place yet. Here’s my story.

— Early childhood advocates say the heightened interest from candidates of both parties comes after years of research and messaging have convinced many voters there’s a link between early education and student achievement, and that there's a return on the investment for communities and businesses hoping to grow their workforce. A 2017 poll published by the First Five Years Fund found bipartisan support for increased funding for early childhood programs.

— “What we’re seeing this time around in governors' races ... has taken a long time, but we're at a point where it's part of the conversation,” said Sarah Rittling, executive director of the fund, an early education advocacy group. “This issue has transcended.”

— Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Democratic candidate in New Mexico’s tight race for governor, has made a $285 million commitment to funding universal preschool a hallmark of her campaign. The plan has attracted the support of early education advocates, who point to the magnitude of the investment and the fact that the Republican candidate in the race, Rep. Steve Pearce, has rejected funding increases for early education in favor of improving the state’s K-12 system.

— “We’re anxious to start touting the track record she has in early childhood education and her statements that she wants to increase access to preschool,” said Kris Perry, president of Save the Children Action Network, an early childhood advocacy group. This week, SCAN is launching a $400,000 campaign backing Grisham that includes a television ad, digital outreach and mailers. (The group is rolling out a similar six-figure campaign in Rhode Island, supporting Democratic incumbent Gov. Gina Raimondo.)

— In Michigan, also an open seat, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has made full-day universal preschool for 4-year-olds a priority, along with increasing high-quality child care options for babies and toddlers. Whitmer’s opponent, Republican Bill Schuette, doesn’t mention early childhood on his platform and has said questions remain about its efficacy.

— It’s not just Democrats playing up early education. In Illinois, a tight race between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat J.B. Pritzker pits an incumbent whose administration has prioritized early education against one of the most prominent early education philanthropists in the country. Rauner’s wife, Diana Rauner, has spent more than a decade at the helm of the state’s leading early education advocacy group, Ounce of Prevention, which has received funding from Pritzker.

— Things are similar in Ohio, another close race where both major party candidates for the open seat have laid out detailed early education plans. “This is a remarkable political season for early childhood in Ohio,” said Eric Karolak, the CEO of Action for Children and a member of the executive committee for Groundwork Ohio, both early education advocacy groups. “I’ve been following early ed since the '90s, and there has never been a gubernatorial race where both candidates have made such statements about early childhood, almost trying to one up one another on the issue.”

— Other states where at least one major party candidate for governor is vouching for early childhood funding include Wisconsin, Georgia, Idaho, Alaska, Colorado and Connecticut.

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School Safety

PUERTO RICO BEEFS UP SCHOOL SECURITY: Every public school in the territory now has at least one law enforcement officer present during school hours, totaling 1,600 officers spread out across 856 schools. Education officials said they began increasing the presence of law enforcement at the start of the school year, in response to an increase in reports of violence and vandalism.

— “As important as the quality of learning is the safety of our students and teachers,” Puerto Rico Education Secretary Julia Keleher said in a statement. “We’re focused on honing strategies that will reinforce safety inside every one of our schools.”

— Puerto Rico education officials have also begun rolling out new security systems to safeguard schools at night. The department said the extra security is necessary to protect the new books, classroom supplies and technology that have been doled out to schools following the destruction of Hurricane Maria. Alerts from the security systems, which include cameras and other technology, will be monitored by a central command center.

— “We want schools to be safe while students are present, and when not,we want to guarantee that school property and equipment is not vandalized or stolen,” César González, Puerto Rico’s commissioner for school safety, said in a statement.

K-12

BREAKFAST BEFORE THE BIG TEST: A handful of school districts in Virginia will participate in a new ACT pilot program that offers students a free, healthy breakfast before taking the college entrance exam later this month. ACT leaders said the pilot is the first of its kind and is designed to ensure students are well-fed and perform at their best during the exam.

— “It’s a perfect fit with our longstanding mission to help people achieve education and workplace success, and we are thrilled to be able help make this idea a reality,” ACT Senior Vice President Scott Montgomery said in a statement. The pilot is a partnership between Virginia’s federally funded Child and Adult Care Food Program and nonprofit ACT, Inc.

SPEAKING OF FOOD AT SCHOOL — The Food Research and Action Center is out with a new report analyzing participation in federal afterschool meal programs. The center found that 1.2 million children participated in an afterschool supper program in the fall of 2017, an 11 percent increase from the year before.

— The federal afterschool supper program and afterschool snack program are critical for low-income children who can’t bring or purchase snacks, and who may go home to scarce or unhealthy meals, advocates say.

— The center reports that the District of Columbia, California and Vermont had the highest participation rates of low-income students in the afterschool supper program, with D.C. serving suppers to 22 children for every 100 who participated in the free or reduced price lunch program. Oklahoma, North Carolina and Mississippi saw the greatest increases in participation, serving 50 percent more children in October 2017 over the previous year.

— “The Afterschool Supper Program plays a key role in reducing hunger, drawing children into quality afterschool enrichment activities, and supporting working families,” FRAC President Jim Weill said in a statement. “To increase participation, we need to invest more in afterschool programs in low-income communities, and ensure that both new and existing programs serve afterschool suppers.”

HIGHER EDUCATION

A TOP STUDENT AID OFFICIAL HEADS TO HOUSE COMMITTEE: Kathleen Smith, the deputy chief operating officer of the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, has begun a “detail” on the Republican staff of the House education committee. “Kathleen is best known for her extensive higher ed policy experience, so we’re happy to have her back here helping out on that extensive portfolio,” committee spokeswoman Kelley McNabb said. Smith started with the committee on Friday and is slated to be there through at least the end of the year.

SENATE DEMOCRATS SEEK INVESTIGATION OF CAREER COLLEGE CHAIN: A group of Senate Democrats, led by Illinois’ Dick Durbin, on Wednesday urged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to investigate a chain of career colleges that was recently put on probation by its accreditor. The Democrats want the department to look into the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, which is based in Utah and owns a chain of career colleges. Read their letter here.

— The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges last month put the college chain on probation, outlining a range of problems with the schools in an unusual 80-page letter. The accreditor accused the schools of misleading advertising and making “over-generalized statements” about the performance of its Native American students that it said demonstrated “a profound lack of sensitivity to the students the school serves.”

— Flashback: The Center for Excellence in Higher Education has been in protracted negotiations with the Trump administration over reversing the Obama administration’s rejection of its nonprofit status. The Education Department ruled in 2016 that the school qualified as a for-profit college under federal education rules.

SCHOOL CHOICE

— Brown — who represents Ohio, where the massive virtual school ECOT closed earlier this year— and Murray are asking for an investigation on how virtual charter schools recruit students and verify student enrollment and participation. They also want the government watchdog to explore academic outcomes for students and how much federal, state and local funding virtual charter schools receive.

— Both senators point to data showing that students enrolled in virtual charter schools perform worse than their peers. The schools typically have high student-to-teacher ratios and there's little financial accountability and transparency, they wrote.

— The letter comes at the same time as a report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress detailing the poor performance and financial practices of virtual charter schools. The report notes that for-profit virtual charter schools typically graduate about half of their students, placing them among the lowest-performing schools in their state.

— The National Council on Teacher Quality takes a close look at state teacher qualification requirements, arguing in a new analysis that standards are too low when it comes to educators’ ability to teach children how to read.

— The Education Department could better help states provide pre-employment transition services, according to a report from the GAO.

— The Equitable Grading Project at the Crescendo Education Group is out with a new report calling for changes to the way educators measure student progress.